Mark Schaefer on The Tao of Twitter

Mark Schaefer introduced his first book, “The Tao of Twitter,” on his blog on February 15, 2011. In that blog post, he wrote, “Every Twitter success story, case study, and business benefit has a common formula.”

I emailed him for more information.

Mark, what does that line mean? What’s the formula?

If you dissect any Twitter “success story” it may appear like luck. And to some extent there is a certain randomness to Twitter. Yet I think people can increase their chances of creating business benefits by following this formula that seems to be behind so many successes. First, be mindful and systematic about who you follow and engage with. Don’t just sit back and expect people to follow you because you have a Twitter account. Find interesting people who may care about you and what you do.

Second, you have to show up. Sharing content and engaging with people is the catalyst that makes things happen. If you are passive or stalk the Twitter stream, you probably won’t make many meaningful connections.

Finally, at the root of most success stories is a relationship built on trust and helpfulness. If you go into Twitter with the mindset that you are trying to “sell” or market to people, you’re probably to fail. Instead, focus on building relationships and the benefits will come.

There aren’t any Twitter rules?

No, I don’t necessarily think there are rules.

I think there are some best practices, some etiquette that probably would be helpful, but I am all for creating your own experience on Twitter. And if you bother too many people, you’ll probably hear about it!

Which Twitter tools do you recommend to people?

There are tons of useful apps out there.

I use Hootsuite as my primary dashboard.

For people just starting out, I recommend looking into Twellow. It’s a great place to find interesting people to follow by industry, hobby, common interest, or geographic region.

Back to your book. What inspired you to write it?

I had been teaching some social media classes and developed a little guidebook to help my students remember key ideas and terms. One day after class, a student told me that the handbook was worth the price of the entire class! At the same time I was constantly frustrated by people asking for help on Twitter — it’s just not something you can explain in a phone call. Fleshing out the handbook into a book seemed to make sense.

Why did you decide to self-publish it?

About two years ago, I had been approached by several publishers about writing a book.

I decided to self-publish for two main reasons. First, the publishers have an expectation of a book tour. I don’t have the time for that. Second, they expect a certain amount of heft to the book. Heft equals price point. A former journalist, my style is to tell a story, get the job done, and end it. I was not going to write a book with a lot of filler that people would not read. What’s the point?

It made sense for this particular topic and my priorities and I approached it as a learning experience. I produced a book that people can read in 90 minutes and feel like they have really learned something. I’m proud of that. A bonus is that it is selling very well, completely via word of mouth. It has also been picked up as a text book by at least five business schools, including Michigan State University, which also makes me feel like I am making a positive contribution.

There are so many publishing options these days. I love what Seth Godin is doing with the Domino Project. He’s got it right. Tell the story and be done with it. A no-fluff model. I like that.

McGraw-Hill published Mark’s second book, “Return on Influence,” in February 2012. He said he needed editorial support so decided to work with a traditional publisher. I encourage you to visit his marketing blog entitled {grow} to learn about the connections between companies, reputations, and profits. You can tweet Mark @MarkWSchaefer.